Professional Development for Part-time College Faculty to Enhance Student Success in STEM

该项目旨在通过开发和评估兼职STEM教师的综合专业发展，为高质量的本科STEM教育服务。在许多机构，兼职教师教授入门STEM课程。 因此，这些教师在为学生在STEM领域取得成功创造公平机会方面发挥着至关重要的作用。然而，机构对兼职教师的依赖与较低的第一年持续性和较低的毕业率有关。 很少有研究调查兼职教师在课堂上做什么，以及他们的行为如何与学生的学习。STEM教育改革的努力往往不包括兼职教师，即使研究文件兼职教师的愿望被纳入机构的努力，他们的合作兴趣，以及他们需要更多的校园资源和政策的认识。这个1级学生学习项目旨在提高兼职教师的有效性，从而提高学生的成功率和参与教师教授的第一年STEM课程的学生的持久性。该项目将为埃尔姆赫斯特大学的兼职STEM教师制定一个全面的教师发展计划。在为期三年的项目期间，45名兼职STEM教师将参加密集的教师发展。 发展规划将把联合收割机教学方法培训与校园资源培训结合起来，包括机构支助机制以及保留和包容举措。这种全面的方法可以作为其他小型文科院校的典范，这些院校越来越依赖兼职教师。通过这种持续多年的专业发展努力，预计兼职教师将开发更多以学生为中心的教学理念，增加他们对循证和包容性教学实践的使用，并表现出对机构的归属感。该项目将扩大对兼职STEM教师的机构支持，建立一个STEM系主任研讨会，重点是将兼职教师融入围绕教学和学习的部门对话，以及通过参与有效教学的在线课程来支持持续的专业发展。教学的改进，再加上更大的能力，以连接学生与校园资源，预计将提高学生在第一年的STEM课程的成功。与本项目相关的拟议研究将调查兼职教师的态度和行为的具体变化，这些变化与他们的教学观念、基于证据的实践的使用以及对机构的归属感有关。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest in high quality undergraduate STEM education by developing and evaluating comprehensive professional development for part-time STEM faculty. At many institutions, part-time faculty teach introductory STEM courses. As a result, these faculty have an essential role in creating equitable opportunities for student success in STEM. However, institutional reliance on part-time faculty has been associated with lower first-year persistence and lower graduation rates. Few research studies have examined what part-time faculty do in the classroom and how their actions relate to student learning. STEM education reform efforts often do not include part-time faculty, even though studies document the desire of part-time faculty to be included in institutional efforts, their interest in collaboration, and their need for greater awareness of campus resources and policies. This Level 1 Engaged Student Learning project intends to enhance the effectiveness of part-time faculty, leading to increased student success and persistence of students in first-year STEM courses taught by the participating faculty. The project will develop a comprehensive faculty development program for part-time STEM faculty at Elmhurst University. Over the three-year duration of the project, 45 part-time STEM faculty members will participate in intensive faculty development. The development programming will combine training in teaching methods with training about campus resources, including institutional support mechanisms as well as retention and inclusion initiatives. This comprehensive approach may serve as a model for other small, liberal arts institutions, that increasingly rely on part-time faculty. Through this sustained multi-year professional development effort, it is expected that part-time faculty will develop more student-centered conceptions of teaching, increase their use of evidence-based and inclusive teaching practices, and exhibit an increased sense of belonging with the institution. The project will expand institutional support for part-time STEM faculty by establishing a STEM department chair workshop focused on integrating part-time faculty into departmental conversations around teaching and learning, as well as supporting sustained professional development through participation in an online course in effective teaching. The improvements in instruction, combined with a greater ability to connect students with campus resources, are expected to enhance student success in first-year STEM courses. The proposed research study associated with the project will investigate specific changes in the part-time faculty members’ attitudes and behaviors related to their conceptions of teaching, use of evidence-based practices, and sense of belonging to the institution. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.